


An Unbroken Chain

by Walutahanga



Series: what was considered to be him was only his shadow [1]
Category: Sense8 (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. References, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Sense8 (TV) Fusion, Ambiguous Relationships, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Cultural Differences, Gen, Insanity, It's All Connected, Sensate Cluster(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 03:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13309779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walutahanga/pseuds/Walutahanga
Summary: After the Battle of New York, a medical exam uncovers that Loki is a Sensate.As if Fury's day hadn't been complicated enough.





	An Unbroken Chain

**Author's Note:**

> As far as backstory goes, this is more or less the world of the Avengers with one small difference; Sensates exist and have been common knowledge on Earth since the second World War. They're rare and useful, but thanks to various civil rights movements, there's a lot of laws protecting their rights.

When Loki is brought onto the Hellicarrier for the second time, Fury allows a brief visit to the infirmary. Given that the crazy bastard just took on the Hulk, it seems wise to ensure he’s not bleeding internally before locking him up. The _last_ thing Fury needs is a war with Asgard over violating some intergalactic equivalent of the Geneva Convention.

The doctors perform a set of scans, including an MRI that sets off several alarms. 

“You are about to make my job more complicated,” Fury guesses when he sees the expression on the doctor’s face. The man looks as if he pulled the short straw. 

“I’m afraid so, sir. Here are the scans of the prisoner’s brain.”

Fury glances at the images. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“A connection between the hemispheres, the overactive state of the amygdala, the hypothalamus…”

A few words catch Fury’s attention. He might not have a medical degree, but he was forced to sit through a painfully awkward high school lecture just like every other teenager since the forties. "Aren’t those the parts of the brain that trigger Sensates?”

“Yes, sir.”

Fury takes a deep breath, counts to ten, lets it out. “You’re telling me our _alien_ prisoner is a Sensate.”

“Yes, sir. We thought at first it might just be a different brain structure – perfectly standard for his species. But then we noticed the increasing spikes of activity around the amygdala...”

“Which means?”

“He’s giving birth to a Cluster.”

With a great deal of effort, Fury doesn’t react. He can’t think of anything more guaranteed to complicate his job. Even an escape attempt would be preferable. 

“Can you stop it?” He says.

“No, sir. Perhaps if we’d caught it earlier, but if we stop it now we risk killing the Cluster, whoever they are.”

Which might not be the worst idea, considering Sensates maintain a mental connection to their Cluster-parents. Fury would rather risk brain-death than be mentally connected to an alien psychopath, and he's sure most of the human race would probably agree with him. Most of the galaxy too. 

On the other hand, Loki is an alien prince. Fury might not know precisely how Asgard will react to Shield pre-emptively aborting a birth, but based on Earth politics, he can guess it would be somewhere along the lines of 'pretty fucking bad'. 

“Keep him under observation,” he says. “See what information you can get out of him on this new Cluster gently. And don't tell Thor. I don't want him complicating things until I've sorted this out." 

“Yes, sir,” the doctor says relieved, either at not being held responsible or maybe just to have some clear orders to follow.

Which makes this problem Fury’s now.

* * *

Fury summons Romanov to his office. She’s quiet as he outlines the problem.

“That’s odd,” she says thoughtfully. “I met his eyes when I interrogated him, but I never felt anything.”

“The docs think either the Staff interfered with the connection or he was on something similar to Beta blockers. They’d love a blood sample but can’t get any needles past his skin." Fury shakes his head. "I'm more concerned about this new Cluster. If they're on another planet, fine. That's Asgard's problem. But if it's Earth, I want to know who and where." 

“You want me to try connecting with him,” Natasha says. It’s not a question.

“The blockers have to have worn off for him to give birth. I doubt there's anything he could hide from you right now." 

“It goes both ways. With all due respect, sir, Loki violated a member of my Cluster. I don’t consent to any connection with Loki that won’t be immediately terminated.”

Translation: she’ll do it if she gets to put a bullet in Loki’s head afterwards. Fury can’t exactly blame her, as they don’t have any dependable method of severing connections once they’re established. 

He sighs and changes the subject. “How’s Barton doing?”

Romanov’s gaze goes distant as it does when she’s checking on her Cluster. “Eating breakfast. He wants to go home.”

“Once his debrief’s finished, the two of you are on a month’s leave.” Fury picks up his next file. “Tell Laura hello for me.”

* * *

Fury starts looking for another Sensate, but finding one that’s willing to attempt connection proves difficult. He’s still on the phone with a contact in Texas when he receives word that Loki is in the final stages of labour.

When Fury gets there, Loki’s cuffed to an exam bed. The gag's been removed, but the Asgardian looks in no condition to try anything. He’s muttering to himself, rambling in different languages seemingly at random. 

“Has he given us anything?” Fury asks.

“Not yet,” the doctor admits. “He’s gone through English, Spanish, Romanian, and what sounds like Malay. Nothing helpful yet.”  So they're on Earth. Wonderful. 

And just in time to complete Fury's day, Thor arrives. 

“What is wrong with my brother?” He demands angrily. 

On the bed, Loki laughs, his long fingers stroking the air. “Beautiful,” he croons. “So beautiful.” Thor stares at his brother as if he’s lost his mind. 

“It seems," Fury says tightly. "That your brother is giving birth to a Cluster.” 

“Giving birth?” Thor turns that stare on Fury. “There must be some misunderstanding. It sounded as if you meant that my brother was about to give life to a child.”

“No misunderstanding,” Fury says. “Except he’s giving life, as you put it, to a Cluster.” When Thor just keeps frowning in puzzlement, a horrible suspicion dawns. “You did _know_ your brother is a Sensate, right?” 

“Perhaps we have a different word for it." 

“A group of between two and twelve people sharing a telepathic connection. Able to communication mind-to-mind across vast distances, share knowledge, skill-sets…”

It’s with some relief that Fury sees comprehension on Thor’s face. At least until he opens his mouth and says: “Do you mean the stories my brother used to tell?”

“Stories?” Fury says, just to be sure he heard correctly.

Thor nods. “Loki was ever jealous of the tight bonds between my friends and I. He would make up stories of friends who didn’t exist; companions he would go on wonderful adventures with. It was a childish fancy and he outgrew it soon enough.”

“You mean your people don’t even _believe_ in Sensates? Christ, that could have made my job a lot simpler to know an hour ago–”

Loki suddenly jerks, making a guttural sound of pain.

“Here we go,” one of the doctors said, watching brain waves on a screen.

“Is it too late to stop this?” Fury says. 

“Far too late. We stop now, we’ll kill the Cluster for certain.”

“Stop what?” Thor says. “I don’t understand.”

* * *

So Fury not only has to explain to his superiors why he allowed the alien psychopath to birth an anonymous Cluster right here on Earth, he also has to explain Sensates to Thor. Actually, that last part's a lie. He dumps _that_ job on someone with medical qualifications who can explain what Fury’s happy to take on faith alone. (He’s a spy, not a doctor).

Fury concentrates on trying to locate this new Cluster. The transcript of the labour is unhelpful, supplying uninformative ramblings in different languages. The English is American-flavoured and the linguistics department swears the same for the Spanish, so they’ve got at least two residents of the USA. Or one that’s bilingual.

Loki, of course, just smirks at any attempts to question him. “Do you mean those delightful stories I used to tell when I was young?” He says, like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. “Thor can tell you all about them. Ask him.” 

Tricky little bastard. He knows Thor doesn’t believe him, and there’s nothing Shield can do to make him tell.

Thor himself comes to Fury, frowning dubiously. “I am still not convinced of the existence of these 'Sensates’."

“Go talk to Romonov and Clint," Fury snaps. "I’m sure they’ll really appreciate being told they don’t exist.” And hopefully Romanov will be so pissed off she’ll send Thor packing with a flea in his ear.

Thank God the rest of the Avengers are keeping their noses out of it. They don’t, as the saying goes, have a horse in the race. None of them are Sensate. Rogers is vaguely curious, Stark thinks it’s funny, and Banner just mutters something about one person his head being enough thank you.

“Does it even matter?” Stark says. “Loki’s going back to Asgard in a few days. This new Cluster’s not going to be able to find him, much less release him.”

“I’m more concerned about what else he might convince them to do.” 

“Meh. Wasn’t there a paper about Sensates making crappy terrorists? Too highly a developed sense of empathy or something.”

“Normally I’d agree – except every rule has an exception. Like Loki.”

“Yeah, about that. I’ve got to address the elephant in the room. Where’s the rest of his Cluster? Not the one he gave birth to, the one he was born with. If they're as long-lived as he is, they're probably fricking powerful and might just want their Cluster-mate back."

"I've warned Asgard. Not my issue if they ignore it.”

“Wow, that’s cold. Real cold, Nick.”

“Shut up, Stark.”

* * *

So Loki is sent back to Asgard with Thor, and Fury has peace and quiet for all of six months before Thor returns.

“What can I do for you, Odinson,” he says as Thor is escorted into his office. He resignedly writes off the rest of the day. Maybe the week.

Thor look uncharacteristically uncertain. “I’m here about my brother.”

“He hasn’t escaped, has he?”

“No.”

“Then he’s your problem, not ours.”

Thor doesn’t seem to listen. “I have been looking back into our histories and I have begun to…doubt my own conclusions regarding these Sensates you speak of.”

Sometimes Thor really pisses Fury off. Like times like this, when he announces something humans have known for decades like it’s big news.

“Been speaking to Romanov, have you?” He says.

Thor ignores the sarcasm. “I have found my brother’s history troubling, in light of what you’ve told me. Some odd incidents now appear differently.”

Fury still doesn’t see how this is his problem. “What exactly do you want from me, Thor?” 

“I hoped that you might have found the… Cluster my brother created.”

“And?”

“And I would take them to him. I thought it might help heal his mind, to see his children?” Thor says the last word as if it’s question.

Fury sighs. “Trust me, Thor. There’s nothing they could do in proximity to him they can’t do right here on Earth. Sensates don’t worry about little things like distance.” Which is one of the reasons they’re so valuable and such a pain in the ass. “Besides, he’s the only one who knows who they are and he’s not talking.

Thor looks like someone kicked his puppy. “What about the other Cluster? The companions he spoke of when he was a child?”

“What about them?” 

“One of them is here on Midgard.”

Fury pauses. “You’re sure?”

Thor nods emphatically. “He spoke of her often, with great affection when we were children. I remember it clearly because she seemed to be his favourite.”

Fury’s mind whirs. “That doesn’t make any sense. Sensates have to be born at the exact same moment. If she’s human, she should have been dead long before he was old enough to connect with her.” 

Thor shrugs helplessly. “I can only tell you what I recall him telling me. She lived on Midgard. She was a leader of people. Beautiful, kind, compassionate. If she still lives, perhaps she can help him." 

“Does she have a name?”

* * *

Jiaying Johnson is a ghost.

She existed; that much Fury is certain of. The name leads to a small Chinese village where a woman called Jiaying Li married a Doctor Cal Johnson in 1984. Deeper digging reveals the same face under a different surname twenty years earlier, and yet another twenty years before that.

Interestingly, she’d had a run-in with Peggy Carter in the 1940’s when she had the bad luck to encouner a piece of Nazi shit called Whitehall. No one had thought to verify her background at the time because she was the victim. Earlier records grow sparse, but Fury would bet if he kept digging he’d find a trail of Jiayings leading back to the dark ages.

“She could be an alien,” Maria says thoughtfully. “Runaway Asgardian maybe.”

“My people do not run away,” Thor says firmly and Fury says pointedly:

“You heard him, Hill. His people don’t run away.” Just _thinking_ of that report he’d received from Coulson’s team just last week gave him a headache. “Here you go, Thor. This is everything we have on this ‘Jiaying’.”

Thor reaches for the report, his large hands holding it almost reverently.

“You’ve found my brother’s Cluster."

“Cluster-mate,” Fury corrects. “And, no we haven’t.”

“But you said–”

“She disappeared in 1988. Her village was massacred in the night; men, women, children. No clue to the assailants. Jiaying was presumed dead along with her husband and infant daughter.”

It all looks pretty cut and dried to Fury. Woman went crazy with Loki in her head, or maybe was already crazy, and massacred an entire village. She and her family are probably living elsewhere under different pseudonyms, unless she killed them as well. 

“1988?” Thor says slowly. “That would be…two and a half decades as you mortals measure time?”

“That’s right.” Fury watches, puzzled, as the colour drains from Thor’s face. “Something wrong?”

“He was telling the truth,” Thor breathes, looking sick. 

“Something you want to share with the class, Odinson?”

Thor’s mouth opens, then closes.

“Two and a half decades ago, my brother came to me. He seemed… frantic, raving. Speaking of children’s stories he’d not spoken of in centuries.”

Slowly puzzle pieces slide together, taking on new meanings. “He asked you for help to save his Cluster-mate.”

Thor nodded miserably. “He said father would not allow him to go to Midgard alone, but if we both prevailed upon him, he’d allow us to go together. Loki said his friend was in trouble, that she’d been taken by dangerous men and that we had to save her.” 

“You didn’t believe him.”

“He seemed mad! Speaking to people who didn’t exist, of places he’d never been. Father thought his mind had broken and had him confined.”

Fury feels a sudden flash of… not pity exactly. More anger. Everyone knew how much the death of a Sensate could twist a Cluster. Maybe Loki was always a genocidal little shit in the making, but God knows how far losing Jiaying pushed him down that path. If she hadn’t died, maybe he’d be perfectly sane.

“I thought you said she was alive,” he said tightly, letting his tone communicate how much he didn’t appreciate his time being wasted.

“I didn’t know for certain. Loki, he… he spent two days screaming that he was being flayed alive. He shrieked of the most terrible tortures…” Thor’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I asked him afterward, jokingly, if his lady friend were still about. I only meant to tease. He scared me, acting as he did, and I wanted things to return to normal. He said if I ever spoke of her again, he’d kill me. So I didn’t.”

Two days. Two fucking days. No wonder Loki is crazy.

“You need to kill him,” Fury says bluntly.

“He is my brother –” Thor begins angrily.

“He’s a Sensate who experienced every second of his Cluster-mate being tortured to death and blames you for it. He won’t be reasoned with. He won’t forgive. Nor should he have to. Do him and everyone around him a favour and put him _down_.” 

* * *

After Thor’s gone, Maria says quietly: “You didn’t tell him the rest.”

“I’d prefer to have an ace in the hole.” Fury glances down at the file in his drawer; a brief report from four Shield agents on the scene of the 1988 massacre. No survivors.

Except that only a day later one of them had enacted shifting location protocols on a baby girl in the American foster system. Reasons classified. Order buried so deep it took a shovel to unearth it. Fury can draw a line between Point A and Point B.

“I want her found. And the agents who set it up.”

“They’re all either dead or disappeared. As for the girl, it looks like she ran away from a foster home when she was a teenager and didn’t resurface. At least not using her legal name.”

“She’s out there somewhere and she might be the only leverage we have on Loki. Find her.”

**Author's Note:**

>  _“The past,' he thought, 'is linked with the present by an unbroken chain of events flowing one out of another.' And it seemed to him that he had just seen both ends of that chain; that when he touched one end the other quivered.”_  
>  \- Anton Chekhov, The Witch and Other Stories


End file.
